Police arrest woman suspected of abandoning Frankfort puppy

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) - Frankfort police arrested 43-year-old Stephanie Cooper at her home on Wright Street as she pulled into her driveway in a car matching the one seen on surveillance video from Monday. She's accused of putting a 5-week-old chihuahua puppy in a box and dumping it by the river only a short walk from the Franklin County Humane Society. Police say two sewer department employees saw her and went to investigate. That's where they say they found the tiny puppy inside. They took her to the humane society where she's now recovering. Cooper told us she tried to take the pup to the shelter when she discovered it was sick, but they were closed, so she says she took the dog into the woods in the box and left it.

"The dog was dying. I have children, I have a dog in the house. I thought if I brought it home, I could make my children sick or my dog. So that's what I did. I did the wrong thing. I made the wrong choice," said Cooper as she was put into the backseat of a Frankfort Police cruiser.

Officials at the Franklin County Humane Society named the puppy Marquette after one of the animal control workers. They said since news got out about Marquette, they've been getting calls from lots of people wanting to know how they can help. Marquette could go to her foster home as soon as this weekend.

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